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Circunima
Circunima is the fantasy world in which the adventures of Phoenix City Chronicles and related games take place. Although the setting is based on Celtic, Greek, Norse, Egyptian, American, and Asian mythology (depending on the land in question), many anachronistic modern elements exist, the most notable of which being Phoenix City itself. Circunima is divided into at least three known continents; Norweist, Meido, and Southan. The name Circunima is confirmed to be a grasslander word meaning, "full circle". Game History Circunima began approximately in 2003 as a campaign setting for the 3rd edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, followed by revisions in version 3.5, although it should be noted that at least one character later used in the game, Brother Light, was first played in 2nd edition. In the beginning, the setting was known as Ash City and was notably darker in tone, much like a medieval counterpart to DC Comics' Gotham City. The primary hero was a vigilante named Killraven, and the main antagonist, among others, was the Church of Mechanical Transcendence. This prototype setting was short-lived, lasting only a few adventures before being abandoned in favor of other alternative settings, such as the early drafts of the medieval world Circunima itself. By the time that the predecessor of the current version of Phoenix City Chronicles and truest original version was being playtested by a small group of players in 2006, most of the world of Circunima as it appears today had been created. In March of 2008, series creator Regis Welch would develop the AVA System on the now deleted gaming community Minionz, bringing Phoenix City (a rewrite of Ash City developed in the 2006 games) to the site world of Velardia, retconning an explanation for the setting's transition from Ash City to Phoenix City into the history of the metropolis, and rebooting the stories of all characters created for it. By November of that same year, friction in the Minionz community led to the cessation of all players involved in Phoenix City Chronicles to a new forum. At the time of the change-over, canon was again retconned, resetting Phoenix City in its original homeworld of Circunima and continuing existing stories with minor rewrites for now defunct lands and deities. Indeed, the deities of the world were reset to Welch's original intention of real-world mythology being at the heart of the world's creation, and within the forum games, a new cabal of deific entities known as the storyteller deities emerged. By 2012, the Phoenix City Chronicles forum had played its final game and the creative team behind it had moved on to other pursuits while still occasionally hosting tabletop games using the D20 System as before. Games during this era tended to expand on areas outside of Phoenix City or even the world of Circunima, effectively expanding the cosmology of the world. In 2015, the Peoria Street Guild will be hosting the first online game connected to the world of Circunima in three yeas. Mythology According to legend, Circunima was the joint project of several pantheons of ancient gods who, in order to better understand one another and make peace, created a world on which they could study what the other created as it played out the legends of their respective lands and collectively created the greatest story ever told as the tales began to merge. To the Celtic Gods, a lush green forest known as Sylvanna was granted. To the Greek Gods, a grassland paradise known as Plainterra. The Egyptian Gods claimed the Ra-Tae-Zu desert, while the Norse Gods set their sights on the Onaklov Mountains. These pantheons would watch closely over their new continent, Norweist. In time, the gods of Asia and The Americas created the continents of Meido and Southan, respectively, to serve the same purpose. In the eons since, the children of all three continents have begun to interact and influence one another. Other such continents may yet exist, but if so, they are unknown to the world at large, and so await discovery. The Storyteller Deities In addition to the legendary overdeities which created Circunima, the legendary nature of the world gave birth to a new, completely independent pantheon of gods and goddesses representing various aspects of the greater "story" of life. Known Storyteller Deities thus far include; * Comedy And Tragedy: Twins who oversee their respective story elements. * Protagonist: A quasi-deific player character and the Narrator's champion. * Proscenia: The Fourth Wall, Goddess Of The Border Between Reality And Fantasy * Ro Tar R'an: The Narrator, God Of Plot Development * Specter: The Librarian, God Of Records * Weaver: The Crossroad, Goddess Of Introductions And Crossovers Among these, Ro Tar R'an is easily the most active in the affairs of mortals. External Links Phoenix City Chronicles Official Site Category:Places Category:Circunima Category:Circuniman Cosmology